We're doing something a little different today.
Usually, when I review a show, I prefer to have it complete or close to
complete so I can take the whole experience into account. But we're shaking up
the old formula. In fact, this new way of reviewing just might become a staple
part of Th Alt-Hist File and The Audio File. We're taking the look at the first
season of an exciting newcomer to the audio drama world. We're taking a look at
season one of The Phone Booth.
The Phone Booth takes place in a world where
ninety-nine percent of humanity has developed superpowers. It all started on a
seemingly unremarkable day in 2004. Then a teenage girl named Beca Orlofsky
floated into the skies above New York City and exploded into pink dust. This
day would forever be known as B-Day. The dust traveled across the world, and by
the time it settled, almost the entire human race had developed superpowers of
some sort. Fifteen years later, investigative podcaster Joe Pollard is
traveling the world interviewing people about the ways B-Day has impacted their
lives. For these people entered the phone booth as regular people, but they
exited it as something more.
I'll give some general thoughts before we get into the
individual episodes. I became aware of The Phone Booth one I was scrolling
though the Apple podcast app one day. It was one of those "people who
listened to this show also listened to..." sort of things. Then I was over
on the audio drama subreddit when I saw a post from The Phone Booth's creator,
Keenan Ellis, asking if anyone would review his show. I said yes, but I had to
take care of a few other projects first, but now here we are.
I must say, I was very impressed with what I listened
to. The Phone Booth can best be described as World War Z (book, not movie) with
superheroes rather than zombies. This is no accident, as Keenan has admitted
World War Z was a big inspiration. The Phone Booth was originally going to be a
book, but then Keenan decided to turn it into an audio drama. How hard could it
be? Well, a lot harder than he anticipated, but I'm glad he stuck with it and
produced an amazing show. He even founded his own podcasting company called The
Fool's Gallery.
Besides being a great writer, Keenan is a great voice actor. In
fact, all of the voice actors and actresses featured in the series do an
outstanding job. It is top of the line voice acting, which I always appreciate
that in an audio drama. The title refers to how Superman enters a phone booth
as Clark Kent, but comes out as The Man of Steel. It's a metaphor for what
happened on B-Day.
So, with all of that out of the way, let's get into
the individual episodes.
There is an episode zero, but it sets up the premise,
and we already talked about that. Well, one interesting thing we learned is
that there were superheroes prior to B-Day. I hope that gets expanded on in
future episodes, and we get to see how those heroes are adjusting to then post
B-Day world. I will say that it kind of reminded me of the opening of the Wild
Cards series, edited by George R.R. Martin. I wonder if that was an
influence.
Episode one is titled "Sunshine Girl." Fire
chief Lynn Knox always dreamed about being a superhero when she was young. She
even made her own costume and called herself Sunshine Girl. When B-Day
happened, it seemed like a dream come true. But a dream come true was a bit
more than she bargained for.
The first full episode of The Phone Booth starts out
strong. At one point or another, we've all fantasized about getting
superpowers, and what we might do with them. Of course, a bunch of people who
suddenly find themselves with superpowers, and no idea how to control them,
will mean a lot of collateral damage. Still, despite the chaos Knox rose to the
occasion and helped save people. She even saved her father. He got the power to
breathe underwater, but at the cost of being able to breath air. He's living in
the Great Lakes now, but at least he's joined a nice school of fellow
water-breathers.
There's a strong theme of "well, now what?"
throughout this episode. Indeed, that's a recurring theme throughout much of
The Phone Booth. The Phone Booth is a story about ordinary people making their
way through and extraordinary world. All in all, a solid first episode.
Episode two is titled "h2o." It tells of a
former anthropologist named Taylor Browning who is the leading voice of the
anti-superpowers movement. She tells of what happened when she and her wife
were on a remote island, studying and isolated tribe, during B-Day.
This episode has two things I hope we see expanded
upon in future episodes. It shows the effects of B-Day outside of America, and
it is told from the perspective of a non-powered individual. Taylor and the
tribe were part of the one percent of humanity that didn't get any superpowers.
However, her wife got the power to turn into water, and more importantly, to
produce water. This was pretty handy, given that the dust from B-Day screwed
with the weather. However, the water she could produce was finite. That was a
nice subversion of how elemental powers tend to be unlimited. A reasonably
solid second episode.
Episode three is titled "The Book of Beca."
Joe interviews two brothers who have created a religion based around Beca
Orlofsky. I know that's not much of a discretion, but there's more too
it.
The brothers grew up in an orphanage following B-Day.
As you can imagine, there were a lot of orphans after B-Day. There were also
plenty of kids abandoned by their parents, who couldn't care for them anymore.
Oh, they promised to come back for them, but most didn't keep that promise. The
older brother has the power of flight, and describes flying in almost religious
terms. The little brother gained the power to play any musical instrument. I
liked how he showed that not all of the superpowers are flashy or combat
oriented.
Towards the end of the interview, the masks slip, and
the brothers hint that they're aware their religion is probably bunk. They're
aware, but they also believe people need something to guide them and give them
purpose and meaning in their brave new world. More importantly, they themselves
need something to help keep going. If you've followed this blog for a while,
you know I don't have much love for religion. Thus, it is a testament to
Keenan's skill as a writer that I was able to sympathize with the brothers.
That, and the voice actors did and exceptional job. The Phone Booth bowls a
turkey for great episodes.
Episode four is titled "Joe in Minor Key."
Joe has booked a private performance with a musician named Rosalind Ria. She
has the power to call-forth memories using her music. As in, the music creates
visions of your past before you. As such, we get insights into Joe and his
past.
Well first off, this episode really shines thanks to
special musical guest Audri Cole. The singing and guitar work were great. This
episode confirmed something I'd suspected from the start: Joe doesn't have any
superpowers. Or to put it another way, he's just an Average Joe. We also get to
learn about his personal experiences with B-Day, and his relationship with his
parents. I really enjoyed this episode; more podcasts and audio dramas need to
start doing musical episodes. It's a great use of the medium.
Episode five is titled "Amalgamation."
Following B-Day, America fragmented into seven nations. They've all reunited by
the present day. Well, all except for Los Angles, that is. Los Angles is home
to a hive-mind entity known as The Union, and it has agreed to have an
interview with Joe.
This is easily one of my favorite episodes of the
bunch. A hive-mind, as best I can explain it, is one mind split among many
bodies. Think of it sort of like an ant colony or a bee hive. They're made of
individual members who have their own functions, but they're also working
towards a shared goal as though they were one organism. Hive-minds are
incredibly difficult to write well, especially when given a sympathetic
treatment. It is a testament to Keenan's writing abilities that he manages to
make The Union sympathetic and relatable, but also feels not quite human. The
Union was first awakened during B-Day when it emerged from the mind of a man
named Robert. I can best explain it as a psychic subconscious we all have, but
few truly awaken.
It was ravenous, constantly needing to consume other
minds and consciousnesses. It consumed just about everyone in Los Angles. Then,
for reasons even The Union can't say, it stop short of devouring the minds.
Instead, keeping the, within itself, and hearing them screaming to be free. So,
slowly, but surely, it is returning the minds to their original bodies. This
will, of course, not end well for The Union. It needs minds to sustain itself,
and without them it will die. Still, for whatever reason, it is choosing to do
good and free them.
It was an interesting twist to make The Union
sympathetic and even noble and benevolent. Usually, hive-minds are villainous,
almost Lovecraftian monstrosities. And to make it so relatable as well; now
that's some creative writing. When I finish this episode, I viewed it as The
Phone Booth's best work yet. How could Keenan possibly top this one?
Episode six is titled "What I Know." Joe
receives a phone call early in the morning. It's from a fourteen-year-old,
named Cedric Appleton, who has just gotten his powers. Specifically, his power
is omniscience, and he's calling to give an interview before he kills
himself.
Well, would you look at that, he was able to top the
last episode. Truly omniscient characters are some of the hardest to write, but
Keenan pulls it off. Apparently, fourteen is the age at which superpowers
manifest for the children, including those born after B-Day. There doesn't appear to be any
rhyme or reason when it comes to powers. It's totally random, no relation to
genetics or anything like that. Cedric knows everything, but that means life
holds no surprises for him. This drives him into despair. We're all puppets,
but he can see the strings...or can he?
He claims that he saw himself and his crush getting
married and having a happy life together, but given what happens at the end of
the episode, that seems a bit unlikely. I think he actually see things that
could be, not things that will be. Remember, we only have Cedric's word for how
his powers work. So maybe it isn't that they will occur, but he gives into his
supposed fate, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It is often said that there is a difference between
knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is accumulating information, but wisdom is
knowing how to use that accumulated information. Even Cedric admits that he
often knows, but doesn't understand until later. Plus, I'm hoping he turns out
to be wrong that there is no life more advanced than bacteria on other planets.
Hey, aliens could make for interesting story material. Then, at the end of the
episode, a bombshell drops that changes everything. What is it? Well, you're
gonna have to find that out for yourself. It does without say that this
episodes earned its place as my other favorite of the bunch.
Do I have any complaints or criticism? You mean apart
from wishing I had more episodes to listen to, because these six were so good?
I got nothing. I'm eagerly awaiting season two of The Phone Booth. There's so
much potential for stories. There's lot of superpowers that could make for
interesting stories.
What would I like to see in the next season? Well, it
is mentioned that some people became human-animal hybrids, so learning more
about that would be nice. Getting the perspective of people without powers
would be good. Seeing how B-Day effected the world outside of America would be
good. That said, there's still a lot of places in America to explore. For
example, how might B-Day effect a Native American reservation, or the lives of
people in the inner city? The Phone Booth is an alternate history, so how have
historical events that happened between 2004 and now been effected? We've
touched on religion, but how did pre-existing ones react to B-Day? Also, how
did those pre-existing superheroes react, and how are they doing these days?
What's it like to be someone who can breathe water, but not air?
Mind you, I'm not demanding that any of these things have
to be included in season two. The point I'm trying to make is that there is a
ton of potential for new stories. From what I've seen in the first season, I
have full confidence in Keenan's writing abilities, and I eagerly await to see
what he comes up with.
So there you have it. Season one of The Phone Booth is
an anthology show, of sorts, about ordinary people finding their way in a world
of superpowers. Check it out today, you'll be glad that you did.
Well, I think that's enough from me for now. I will
see you guys next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment